Signaling system.



C. F. MEAD.

SIGNALING SYSTEM. APPLICATION men SEPT. 16, I912.

,1 2 Patsntefi Dec. 4, 1915?.

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C. F. MEAD.

SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION man SEPT. 16. 1.912.

Patented Dec. 4, 191?.

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C. F. MEAD.

SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1,6. 1912.

Patented Dee. 4, 191?.

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$pecificat10nof Letters Patent.

Application fiiea septemb ryic, 1912. $eria1 No. 720,518.

Be it known that I, CARL F. MEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleve land, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have i iv'ented certain new and'useful Improvements in Signaling Systems, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in signaling systems and also to "contact de-l vices for such systems, and particularly to that class of such devices utilized in the signaling in offices, factories and banks;

More specifically the invention relates. to an 1mprovement over the system and construction set forth in my Patent No.

1,164,737, granted December 21., 1915, and

contemplates certain features" which render the device pos t ve and more eflic entgen erally, y The invention may be more briefly summarized as consisting in the construction and combination of parts hereinaftenset forthin the following description, drawings and claims. y

Referringto the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine; 'Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig 3 is a detail sectional view; Fig. 4 is anend elevation ;Fig 5 is a transversesectional viewjthrough the device showing the. arrangement of parts; Fig,

6 is a detail view of portions of the device shown in elevation; Fig 7 is adetail" view showing the gearing connected to the drivmg pulley Fig. 7 1821, diagrammatic view showing the arrangementof the signaling system; Fig. 8 is a view of the bells utilized and the mechanism for sound bells Fig. 9 is a view partly in section showing the top of relay; and Fig. 10 is a section upon the line 1010 of Fig, 8.

In carrying out the invention any preferred form and construction of parts may be employed (so long as they possess the necessary characteristics, but I 5 have shown one embodiment in the drawings which is highly effective in operation, and in'suoh disclosure 1 represents a'suitable base, to which is secured a pair of upright frame members 2 and 3 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These members support the mechanism and also support a casing which is not shown.

Secured to, the frame members '2 and 3 is a frame t having bracket members 5 and 6 which e'x'tend down inside of the frame. Each.

members tcsnp'port the mechanism of brackets is provided with a down wardly extending arm 7 Figs. 4' and 5 provided with threaded openings 8 for receiving screws 9 Fig. 3 which pass through-fiber bearing blocks 10. These blocks support a commutator shaft 11 extending across the machine and out beyond each of the arms, 7. ()n the right hand side of the machine, as shownin Fig, 1, this shaft is provided with a gear wli'eel12"meshing with a" pinion 13 mounted upon a'shaft 14 supported ineccentric openings in fiber or other insulating bearings 15; and 16, threadedin a bracket 17 on one side and in one of the arms 7 on the other as shown in Fig. 7. The shaft 14 carriesa driving pulley 18 driven by a belt 19 froma driving pulley 20 secured to the shaft of a motor 21.

Mounted upon the shaft llis the commutator member comprising a plurality of disks 22 having mounted between them rods or contact members 23, and these rods or contact members form between thedisks contacts corresponding to the severalyisig nals which the machine is intended to give. The disks 22 are held in place by means of sleeves24 mounted upon the shaft between adjacent disks, all of the sleeves and the diskbeing held in place by end disks 25,

each of which is provided with a hub 26 secured to the shaft 111 by a set screw 27.

Cooperating with the rods or contact members 23 which extend between the disks area plurality of contact leversjor keys, one for each signal, and each comprises a lever 28 mounted upon a common shaft 29 supported in the frame. Each of the levers is' provided with an operating rod 30 extending out to the front of the machine moved down, the plate is'engaged by it and shifted longitudinally, the horizontal portion of the slot receiving the rods 30 of the other keys and preventing their downward movement. Each of thelevers 28 is normallyheld in anelevated positiofiby means of a spring 35 secured at one end to the rod Patented nee. 4,1917.

and at the other end to the frame. Each contact lever 28 carries a block 36prefertheleaf contact extends up above the lever suchthat therods of all the contact levers v tions of the slot formed in the locking plate.

and engages a contact bar 38 secured to but insulated from the supporting frame 34- which supports and guides the locking plate 34 as set forth in Fig. 5. The locklng plate is normally heldiin a position to the left,

a shown in Fig. 1 by means of a spring 39 Fig. 1 secured at one end, to the plate and at the opposite end to the framework 34. The position of this plate therefore is areat'the merging point of the two por- Current is supplied to the shaft 11 through springs 40 Figs. 3 and 5 arranged in openings 41 in the friction bearing blocks 10, and screws 42 hold these springs under tension against the shaft, and at the same time hold the wire which forms a part of the circuit.

Suitable means is provided for normally holding the contact lever depressed, and this mechanism is connected to the locking plate 34 and it'comprises a switch lever pivoted to the frame 34 and connected above the centerras at 43 to. the locking plate 34. 1 At its lowerend it carries a lug 44 engaging the side face of a cam disk 45 shown clearly in Fig. 4. This cam disk is cut out to form a cam face 46 and an abrupt shoulder 47. Upon the shifting of one of the contact levers the plate 34 is shifted to the right, causing the'lever 43 to be moved in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 1, thereby carrying the lug 44 out to a point where it will engage the side face of the cam disk so that if the disk were rotated the lug would ride upon the side face of the disk and hold the locking plate 34 to the right, and since the rods of all of the contact levers, except the one depressed move into the horizontal portion of the corresponding slot in the locking plate all of the levers will be locked in position, and none of them can be depressed during the giving of a signal. The cam disk 45 is rigidly secured to the shaft 11 so that it will rotate therewith. q i

It is essential that the motor should start the rotationfof the driving mechanism and the shaft .11, upon the downward movement of a contact lever, and. this is brought about by suitable switch mechanism ar ranged in conjunction with the lever 43, and

it comprises an insulating block 47 secured to the upperend of the lever 43 and carry? ing a contact pin 48 adapted to pass betweenthe leaf spring contacts 49 and complete the circuit to the motor. From the foregoing it will be seen that upon the de-' pression of a contact lever, the sliding plate 34 is shifted to the right and the lever 431s rocked in a clockwise direction,- causing 1ts lug 44 to be moved out to a-point where it can engage the side face of the. cam disk with the result that the contact pin 48 1S:

thrust into engagement with the leaf spring contacts when the motorisstarted. 3 Upon the operation of the motor, however, the shaft 11 is rotated as the lug 44erests upon the side face of the cam'disk 45 so that the circuit to the motor is kept closed during the rotation of-the shaft 11. In the meantime, the contact rods 23 have engaged the leaf contact carried by the depressed contact lever and the contact through the signaling circuit has been brokenand closed to give the proper signal. Upon a complete revolution of the shaft 11, the" lug 44 drops,

extra key 50 secured to a shaft 51. passing through the frame member 2 and havingia bearing in oneof the arms '7. This shaft adapted to be moved by the rotation of the shaft 51 into engagement'with'the lever 43 soastohold it in position so thatthe plate 34 is held tothe left. i I

The system as shown in the diagrammatic view in Fi 7 comrises a main line circuit consisting of wires 53 and 54, branches 55 and 56, of which lead to the signalcontact device already described. A. line com-i prising the wires 57 and 58. lead from the) signal contact device to an alarm circuit in which are placed the signals which may be in the form ofbells 59, as shown, or they may be lights. i

If it is desired to extend the system beyonol the capacity of a single line for taking desire to resv carries a dog 52 shown in Fig. 6, wh1eh is careof thesignals, a line comprising wires.

61 and 62 may be led to a relay 63 which is supplied with current from a line comprising wires 64 and 65 from the main circuits 53 and 54, and an alarmcircuit 66and 67 may be led to a plurality of bells 60 or other devices. In this way, the systemmay be extended over large factories and plants with a'single central signaling contact device.

The form of hell utilized isof a solenoid type andcomprises a, base 68 having secured thereto a suitable housing 69 having an opening 7 0' at the end nearest the bell and in alinement with this opening and at the bottom, an adjusting socket member 71 comprising a thumb piece 72 extending outside of the housing, and an internally threaded portion which receives a nut 78 having an opening therein and a transverse bar 74 across the opening, see Fig. 10. This transverse bar engages in a slot 7 5 formed in a brass tube 76 upon which is mounted the solenoid coil 77. This tube receives the armature or core 78 which rests upon the cross bar 74:. This core has at its upper end a suitable striker 79. By the arrangement of the parts, it will be seen that when current passes through the coil 77 the solenoid core will be drawn quickly within the coil and the striker 79 will engage the bell. In order to adjust the striker the thumb piece 72 may be rotated and the position of the nut 73 and the cross bar 74 varied within the threaded portion of the socket member 71.

The relay comprises a casing 80 having mounted therein a pair of solenoid coils 81 secured rigidly in the casing and adapted to be connected by a suitable line to the circuit leading from the signal contact device to the first set of signals. Cooperating with these coils 81 are a pair of armature cores 82, both connected to a switch block 8-3 insulated therefrom and carrying contact members 841: and 85. These two contact blocks engage between pairs of leaf contacts 86 and 87, 88 and 89 respectively. These leaf contacts just referred to are secured to an insulating bar 90 secured to the casing. Supply wires 6& and 65/ enter the casing and the former is secured to the leaf contact 87 while the latter is secured to the leaf contact 88. The relay signal circuit comprising the lines 66 and 67 is connected so that one line, for example 66 leads to the contact 89 while the other 67 leads to the contact 86. When the line comprising the wires 61 and 62 receives an impulse from the central signal contact device the solenoid receives an impulse and their cores 82 are drawn inward with the result that the contact bars 84 and 85 are brought into engagement with the leaf contacts 86, 87, 88 and 89 with the result that the circuit formed by the lines 64, 65, 66 and 67 is completed and additional signals are given.

In the drawings I have shown the mechanism supported on the frame members 2 and 3. This construction may be utilized in connection with a casing covering all of the mechanism, or the mechanism itself may be mounted on the inside of the casing and the reference in the specification to the frame is intended to include either of the constructions mentioned.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. An alarm system, comprising a main circuit, a source of current supplying said circuit, a branch circuit, a central signal contact device in said branch circuit, a signal circuit supplied with current from the main circuit, said signal device controlling the currents to said signal circuit through said signal device, an auxiliary independent signal circuit connected to said main circuit, and means under the control of said signal device for controlling the connection to said auxiliary signal circuit.

2. An alarm system, comprising a main circuit, a source of current supplying said circuit, a branch circuit, a central signal contact device in said branch circuit, a signal circuit supplied with current from the main circuit, said signal device controlling the current to said signal circuit through said signal device, an auxiliary independent signal circuit connected to said main circuit, and a contact device in said auxiliary signal circuit and under the control of the said signal device for controlling the connection to said auxiliary signal circuit.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

